Use these "historical facts"
to make sense of some of the notes that are in the burial records.
Or, in reverse, do a search in the database with a reference
to one of these interesting facts (In the notes section).

You'll
be surprised by the number of burials around the city that make
reference to theses famous events and interesting places.

Schooner CharlesA ship wreck off Cresent beach on Richmand Island in the year 1807. Some were
buried here.

Pest HouseThis is the home where victims of the Small Pox outbreak went. They had their own graveyard, but many victims are buried with their relatives in the city cemeteries. Most of the burials were moved to a mass grave in Forest City Cemetery, South Portland.

Alms HouseThe old city Alms house stood at the foot of Weymouth street. It was erected around 1803 and abandoned in 1904. >>

War of 1812Many local heros served. >The most famous local action of this era was the sea battle that took place 40 miles from Portland, (the Longfellow Poem "My lost Youth"). The sea captains Blyth and Burrows, who commanded the two ships "Enterprise" and the "Boxer" were buried side by side in the Eastern Cemetery.

Politics Five mayors of the City of Portland, Maine are buried in the Eastern Cemetery.>>

Fire of 1866 This was the fourth time the city of Portland was burned. It happened on the fourth of July 1866.

Civil War

According to Herbert Jones, in his Book "Old Portland Town" published in 1938, Maine sent 70,000 men to fight. Ten infantry regiments, a company of sharpshooters, one cavalry regiment and three batteries of artillary. >>>

There are many burial records that relate to the Civil war....Some died in Civil War Prisons >>> ...Some at Gettysburg >>> .

Casco Bay IslandsIn his Book "Portland and Vincinity" first published in 1876, Edward Elwell states that popular legend counts 365 islands in Casco bay, one for each day of the year. He counts only One hundred and twenty two. Inner Range- Mackay's, The brothers, Ten Pound, Clapboard, Studevant, Basket, Cousins, Littlejohn's, Lane

The Dash

The dash was a Privateer ship out of Portland, Maine. It was lost in a storm in the year 1815.

USS Covington (1863-1864) USS Covington, a 224-ton side-wheel "Tinclad" river gunboat, was built in 1862 at Cincinnati, Ohio.On 5 May 1864, while convoying a transport on the Red River, she was disabled by the gunfire of a strong Confederate military force and was burned by her crew. One crew member is buried in the Western Cemetery.

Murder and Mayham Southern Maine had its share of murder and mayham through out the years. The first bank robery took place in 1818, and the man that did it is buried in the Eastern Cemetery. >>> Two people were hanged for murder in the late 1700s and they are buried at the Eastern Cemetery. >>>